Why do people search for stock the system shows?
Because your company’s system knows how much there is, but not where it is.
If the location is written down by hand or lives in someone’s memory, every search becomes a walk. Warehouse software records the position on every move.
What it is
It is layers stacked on each other. The warehouse management system (WMS) keeps the inventory, assigns locations and orders the picking.
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The warehouse control system (WCS) turns those decisions into orders for each machine and coordinates who moves first. STOKA implements its own WMS, integrates it with the business management system (ERP) your company already runs and connects it to equipment control.
In practice
An automated warehouse without software is a set of machines that does not know what to move or in what order. The software defines where each item goes, with what priority it leaves and which machine moves it, and it logs every move.
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STOKA implements its own WMS and connects it to the business system your company already uses.
What is a warehouse management system and what does each layer do?
WMS against ERP: the question that comes up in every meeting
It is the most frequent doubt, worth clearing up early. The business management system (ERP, enterprise resource planning) is the one the company already has: it invoices, purchases, keeps the accounts and knows how much stock exists per reference.
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The warehouse management system knows something else: where each unit sits, in what condition, from which batch, with what expiry and in what order to retrieve it. The ERP answers how much do I have; the WMS answers where is it and what to pick first. That is why an ERP does not replace a WMS: it can hold an impeccable accounting balance and still not tell anyone which rack to take the pallet from. A WMS does not invoice or purchase either. They should talk to each other. The ERP sends the order, the WMS resolves execution inside the warehouse and returns the confirmed movement with its location. If you run an ERP with a simple location module and few daily movements, that may be enough: a WMS earns its place when location, sequence and traceability cost hours every day.
Seeing the warehouse on screen before it grinds to a halt
Three-dimensional visualisation is not an animation for the boardroom. It is the real state of the warehouse rendered on screen: which positions are occupied, which equipment is working, which orders are queued and where pending work is piling up.
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It is useful for two concrete things. The first is finding the bottleneck before it stops everything: when the queue always grows at the same point, the problem is not the machine that stopped but the stretch before it, and a spreadsheet does not show that. The second is operating without walking the warehouse to understand what is going on, which matters when the system works at height or in a cold room, where direct visual inspection is uncomfortable or simply not viable. It also earns its place during commissioning, to compare real behaviour against what the project sized and correct parameters before they settle into habit.
Integration and accurate inventory: talking to what you already run
Warehouse software does not replace the company systems: it connects to them. The connection is made through an application programming interface (API), the standard way for two systems to exchange data without anyone retyping it: the business management system sends orders and purchase orders, and the warehouse system returns goods-in confirmations, locations and movements.
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The scope of that integration is defined against the system you already run and against the interface it exposes; it is not promised before we have seen it. The most measurable benefit shows up in inventory: with every movement recorded automatically, accuracy stops depending on a spreadsheet filled in afterwards, and stocktaking stops being a full day of people. That time has a price: a warehouse operative represents USD 965 per month, USD 11,580 per year in company cost (CCT 40/89 logistics branch, June 2026), with social charges at 34.6% of labour cost (IARAF, February 2026).
What is a WMS, and what is a WCS?
A warehouse management system (WMS) is the software that knows what is in the warehouse and where: it assigns locations, keeps lot and expiry, and decides in what order orders are picked.
A warehouse control system (WCS) is the layer below, which turns those decisions into commands for each machine: which conveyor starts, which crane enters the aisle, which robot waits. The business system (ERP) knows how much stock there is; the WMS knows where it is and what to take first; the WCS makes the machines do it. A manual warehouse needs the first; an automated one needs both.
Automated warehouse control: from the order to the machine
Between the decision and the physical movement there is a translation.
The warehouse management system says move the pallet from position A to the dispatch bay; the control system turns that sentence into orders for each piece of equipment, in the right sequence and with the right permissions: which conveyor starts, which machine enters the aisle, which one waits. Without that layer, two machines can claim the same stretch at the same time and the warehouse stops on its own. The control system also administers priorities: an urgent dispatch goes ahead of a replenishment, and a replenishment goes ahead of an internal reorganisation.
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The handling layer is finer still: it manages the detail of the equipment that picks and deposits goods, the grip sequence, the exact support point and the confirmation that the unit ended up where it was meant to. The more automated the warehouse, the more this translation weighs, because it is what stops installed capacity from sitting idle waiting for an order. In an automated warehouse, control is the layer you can see at work. The warehouse control system (WCS) receives orders from the WMS that STOKA implements, integrated with your business system, and distributes them across stacker cranes, shuttle robots, conveyors and autonomous vehicles. That layer is always part of the scope of an automation project, because it is the one that knows the machines and answers for them. Before signing, get four answers in writing: which orders the control layer receives from your management system and which confirmations it sends back; what happens to an order in progress when a machine stops; how the state of the warehouse is shown on screen while it runs; and who supports that layer after commissioning.
What defines the scope of the software you need?
We do not publish model-by-model specification tables: the detailed sheet comes with the assessment, sized against your operation. These are the criteria the choice is made on.
Whether locations are already assigned
This is the first filter and the most ignored. If goods are stored wherever there is room rather than in an identified position, the software has nothing to work on. Sorting locations out is process work and it comes before any licence.
Movements per day and number of references
Few movements and few references are sustained by the location module of your business management system. When movements are many, repetitive and sequenced by batch or expiry date, a dedicated warehouse management system earns its place.
What automated equipment exists, or will exist
If the warehouse is manual, the conversation starts and ends with the warehouse management system. Every automated machine added brings in the control layer, and handling equipment brings in the layer that manages its detail as well.
What interface your current system exposes
Integration runs through an application programming interface, and not every system exposes the same one. The real scope of the exchange depends on it: which data travels in each direction and how often it synchronises. It is verified before quoting.
Traceability required by batch, expiry or serial number
Food, pharmaceuticals and anything with an expiry date force you to follow the unit, not just the balance. That requirement defines the data structure of the system and is often what tips the decision, more than the number of pallets.
When do you not need to buy software yet?
If locations are not yet assigned and the load unit is not standardised, no software will give reliable data: it would precisely record positions that do not exist on the floor.
Process first: remove stock that does not move, code locations and define who confirms each move. And if the warehouse is small and your system already has a location module that is enough, you do not need another.
Frequently asked questions
Can't find your question?Write to us and we reply within one business day.
Tell us about your case01Is the business management system I already have not enough?
It may well be, and in small warehouses it usually is. The business management system (ERP) knows how much stock there is; the warehouse management system (WMS) knows where it sits, in what condition and in what order it should be retrieved. If those three questions are answered today by searching, the ERP module has fallen short. If they answer themselves, buy nothing.
02Which WMS does STOKA implement?
Its own. STOKA implements its WMS and integrates it with the management systems your company already uses, usually the ERP, through an application programming interface. The scope of that integration is defined after seeing what your current system exposes, not before.
03What is the difference between a WMS and a WCS?
The WMS decides what has to move and where; the WCS decides how each machine executes it, in what order and with what priority. A manual warehouse runs on a WMS alone; an automated one needs both layers.
04Does it integrate with the system we already run?
It integrates through an application programming interface (API), the standard way for two systems to exchange data without retyping anything. The scope depends on the interface your current system exposes, so it is verified against your installation before quoting. We do not promise an integration before seeing what the other side exposes.
05Can we start with the software and automate later?
Yes, and it is generally the order we recommend. The warehouse management system organises locations, sequences and data about the operation you already have, and that data is what later allows an automated system to be sized properly. Automating first and organising afterwards is the expensive route: you buy capacity against assumptions instead of measured movements.
06How long does commissioning take and when does it pay back?
For automated systems, installation takes 3 to 4 months from the purchase order, and software commissioning runs in parallel with the mechanical build. Payback sits between 18 and 36 months depending on the operation (STOKA criterion). A software-only project, on a manual warehouse, is resolved in shorter timescales.
Other systems
Before buying software,it pays to see how the warehouse works
The on-site survey measures movements per day, references, load unit and the state of your locations, and reviews what interface your current system exposes. That is how we define the real scope. And if what you already run is enough, we will tell you.